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London, Published by John Van Voorst, Paternoster Re

GUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

ONTARIO

' Touch brim ! touch foot ! the wine is red,

And leaps to the lips of the free ;
Our wassail true is quickly said, —
Comrade ! I drink to thee !

' Touch foot ! touch brim ! who cares ? who cares ?

Brothers in sorrow or glee,
Glory or danger each gallantly shares :
Comrade ! I drink to thee .'

' Touch brim ! touch foot ! once again, old friend,

Though the present our last draught be ;
We were boys — we are men — we 'Jl be true to the end :
Brother ! I drink to thee ! "

54149

SECOND EDITION.

LONDON:

JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW.

MDCCCLXIX.

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b^-^'^;

PEINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS,
KED MON COURT, FI-EET STREET.

A

PREFACE. i . A I

The principal object of tliese pages is to furnisli
a collection of recipes for the brewing of com-
ponnd drinks, technically called " Cups," all of
which have been selected with the most scrupu-
lous attention to the rules of gastronomy, and
their virtues tested and approved by repeated
trials. These we are inclined to put into type,
from a belief that, if they were more generally
adopted, it would be the means of getting rid
of a great deal of that stereotyped drinking
which at present holds sway at the festive
boards of England. In doing this, we have
endeavoured to simphfy the matter as much as
possible, adding such hints and remarks as may
prove serviceable to the uninitiated, whilst we
have discarded a goodly number of modern com-
pounds as unpalatable and unscientific. As, in
this age of progress, most things are raised to
the position of a science, we see no reason why
Bacchanology, if the term please our readers,
should not hold a respectable place, and be

PREFACE.

entitled to its due mead of praise ; so, by way
of introduction, we have ventured to take a
cursory glance at the customs which have been
attached to drinking from the earliest periods to
the present time. This, however, we set forth as
no elaborate history, but only as an arrange-
ment of such scraps as have from time to time
fallen in our way, and have helped us to form
ideas of the social manners of bygone times.

We have selected a sprig of Borage for our
frontispiece, by reason of the usefulness of that
pleasant herb in the flavouring of cups. Else-
where than in England, plants for flavouring are
accounted of rare virtue. So much are they
esteemed in the East, that an anti-Brahminical
writer, showing the worthlessness of Hindu
superstitions, says, " They command you to cut
down a living and sweet basil-plant, that you
may crown a lifeless stone." Our use of flavour-
ing-herbs is the reverse of this justly condemned
one ; for we crop them that hearts may be
warmed and life lengthened.

And here we would remark that, although
our endeavours are directed towards the resusci-
tation of better times than those we live in,
times of heartier customs and of more genial
ways, we raise no lamentation for the departure

PREFACE. V

of the golden age, in the spirit of Hoffmann von
Fallersleben, who sings : —

" "Would our bottles but grow deeper,
Did our wine but once get cheaper.
Then on earth there might unfold
The golden times, the age of gold !

" But not for us ; we are commanded
To go with temperance even-handed.
The golden age is for the dead :
We 've got the paper age instead !

" For, ah ! our bottles still decline.
And daily dearer grows our wine.
And flat and void our pockets fall ;
Faith ! soon there '11 be no times at all!"

This is rather the cry of those who hve that
they may drink, than of our wiser selves, who
drink that we may hve. In truth, we are not
dead to the charms of other drinks, in modera-
tion. The apple has had a share of our favour,
being recommended to our literary notice by an
olden poet —

" Praised and caress'd, the tuneful Phillips sung
Of cyder famed, whence fh-st his laurels sprung ; "

and we have looked with a friendly eye upon
the wool of a porter-pot, and involuntarily apo-
strophized it in the words of the old stanza,

" Rise then, my Muse, and to the world proclaim
The mighty charms of porter's potent name,"

n PREFACE.

without the least jealous feeling being aroused
at the employment of a Muse whose labours
ought to be secured solely for humanity ; but a
cup-drink, little and good, will, for its social and
moral qualities, ever hold the chief place in our
likings.

Lastly, although we know many of our friends
to be first-rate judges of pleasant beverages, yet
we believe that but few of them are acquainted
with their composition or history in times past.
Should, therefore, any hints we may have thrown
out assist in adding to the conviviality of the
festive board, we feel we shall not have scribbled
in vain ; and we beg especially to dedicate this
bagatelle to all those good souls who have been
taught by experience that a firm adhesion to the
"pigskin," and a rattling galopade to the music
of the twanging horn and the melody of the
merry Pack, is the best incentive to the enjoy-
ment of all good things, especially good appetite,
good fellowship, and

Good Health.

And, altboii2:li alone,

We '11 drain one draiiglit in
Memory of many a joyous
Banquet past.

PEEPACE

TO

THE SECOND EDITIOX.

The Second Edition of this book contains
much additional matter, all of AAdiich has been
derived from notes collected by one of the
original authors of the work, whose untimely
death is mourned, and whose genial hospitality
is remembered, by very many friends. The
compiler believes that the additions made will
greatly increase the usefulness of the book to all
compounders of Cups.

a > >

111 ; ^

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v^ '."•;,-*

ONTARIO

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

" Then sliall oui- names,

Familiar in their mouths as household words,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd."

As in all countries and in all ages drinking has existed
as a necessary institution, so we find it has been in-
variably accompanied by its peculiar forms and cere-
monies. But in endeavouring to trace these, we are at
once beset with the difficulty of fixing a starting-point.
If we were inclined to treat the subject in a rollicking
fashion, we could find a high antiquity ready-made to
our hands in the apocryphal doings of mythology, and
might quote the nectar of the gods as the first of all
potations ; for we are told that

" When Mars, the God of War, of Venus first did think,
He laid aside his helm and shield, and mix'da drop of drink."

But it is our intention, at the risk of being considered
pedantic, to discourse on customs more tangible and
real. If we are believers in the existence of pre- Adamite
man, the records he has left us, in the shape of fiint
and stone implements, are far too difficult of solution to
be rendered available for drinking-purposes, or to assist
us in forming any idea of his inner life : we must

B

? CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

therefore commence our history at the time

" when God made choice to rear

His mighty champion, strong above compare,
Whose drink was only from the limpid brook."

Nor need we pause to dilate on the quality of this
primseval draught ; for " Adam's ale " has always been
an accepted world-wide beverage, even before drinking-
fountains were invented, and will continue till the end
of time to form the foundation of every other drinkable
compound. Neither was it necessary for the historian
to inform us of the vessel from which our grand pro-
genitor quaffed his limpid potion, since our common
sense would tell us that the hollowed palm of his hand
would serve as the readiest and most probable means.
To trace the origin of drinking- vessels, and apply it to
our modern word "cup,'^ we must introduce a singular
historical fact, which, though leading us to it by rather
a circuitous route, it would not be proper to omit. We
must go back to a high antiquity if we would seek the
derivation of the word, inasmuch as its Celtic root is
nearly in a mythologic age, so far as the written history
of the Celts is concerned — though the barbarous
custom from which the signification of our cups or
goblets is taken (that of drinking mead from the skull
of a slain enemy) is proved by chronicles to have been
in use up to the eleventh century. From this, a cup or
goblet for containing liquor was called the Skull or
Skoll, a root-word nearly retained in the Icelandic Skal,
Skaal, and Skyllde, the German Schale, the Danish
Skaal, and, coming to our own shores, in the Cornish

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 3

Skala. So ale-goblets in Celtic were termed Kalt-skaal ;
and, though applied in other ways, the word lingers in
the Highland Scotch as Skiel (a tub), and in the Ork-
neys the same word does duty for a flagon. From this
root, though more immediately derived from Scutella,
a concave vessel, through the Italian Scodella and the
French Ecuelle (a porringer), we have the homestead
word Skillet still used in England. There is no lack,
in old chronicles, of examples illustrative of that most
barbarous practice of converting the skull of an enemy
into a drinking-cup. Warnefrid, in his work ' De
Gestis Longobard.,^ says, " Albin slew Cuminum, and
having carried away his head^ converted it into a drink-
ing-vessel, which kind of cup with us is called Schala."
The same thing is said of the Boii by Livy, of the Scy-
thians by Herodotus, of the Scordisci by Rufus Festus,
of the Gauls by Diodorus Siculus, and of the Celts by
Silius Italicus. Hence it is that Ragnar Lodbrog, in his
death-song, consoles himself with the reflection, " I shall
soon drink beer from hollow cups made of skulls."

In more modern times, the middle ages for example,
we find historic illustration of a new use of the word,
where Skoll was applied in another though allied sense.
Thus it is said of one of the leaders in the Gowryan
conspiracy " that he did drink his skoll to my Lord
Duke/^ meaning that the health of that nobleman was
pledged ; and again, at a festive table, we read that the
scoll passed about ; and, as a still better illustration,
Calderwood says that drinking the king^s skole meant
the drinking of his cup in honour of him, which, he

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4 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

adds, should always be drank standing. In more
modern times, however, drinkiug-cups have been formed
of various materials, all of which have, at least in
regard to idea, a preferable and more humane founda-
tion than the one from which we derive the term. Thus,
for many centuries past, gold and silver vessels of every
form and pattern have been introduced, either with or
without lids, and with or without handles.

Hanap is the name of a small drinking-cup of the
15th and 16th centuries, made usually of silver, gilt,
standing upon feet. They were made at Augsburgli
and Nuremberg.

In an old French translation of Genesis, we find at
V. 5, c. xliv. : — " Le Hanap que vous avez amblee est le
Hanap mon Seignor, et quel il solort deleter, male chose
avez fait," relating to the silver cup Joseph ordered to
be put in his brother^s sack. In some Scotch songs a
drinking-cup is called cogne or cog : this word is also
spelt in different parts of Scotland cogie, and coig. This
word may be compared with cocidum (medical Latin for
a hollow wooden vessel), also with the old German kouch,
and the Welsh cawg, a basin.

The Flemish driuking-cups of the 16th and 17th
centuries were called vidricomes, i. e. " come-agaius."

The bell-shaped drinking-glasses of the sixteenth
century are specially worthy of observation ; and there
are three very good specimens in the Bernal Collection
at the South-Ken siugton Museum, one of which is
said to be German, and the others Venetian. The
mounting of the German glass consists of a hollow

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 5

sphere in silver, which encloses a dice and is surmounted
by a small statuette of Fortune. To the mounting of
another of these glasses is attached a little bell. These
glasses will stand in the reversed position only, and
were of course intended to be emptied at one draught,
the dice being shaken or the bell tinkled as a finale to the
proceeding. There is also a curious cup in the possession
of theVintners'Company, representing a milk-maid carry-
ing a pail on her head. This pail is set on a swivel, andis so
contrived that the uninitiated, when attempting to drink,
invariably receive its contents on their neck or chest.

In the last century it was very fashionable to con-
vert the egg of the ostrich or the polished shell of the
cocoa-nut, set in silver, into a drink ing-vessel.

Many varieties of tankards were formerly in use,
among which we may mention the Peg-tankard and
the Whistle-tankard, the latter of which was con-
structed with a whistle attached to the brim, which
could be sounded when the cup required replenishing
(from which, in all probability, originated the saying,
" If you want more, you must whistle for it '') ; or, in
more rare instances, the whistle was so ingeniously
contrived at the bottom of the vessel that it would sound
its own note when the tankard was empty. The Peg-
tankard was an ordinary-shaped mug, having in the
inside a row of eight pins, one above another, from top
to bottom : this tankard held two quarts, so that there
was a gill of ale, i. e. half a pint, Winchester measure,
between each pin. The first person who drank was to
empty the tankard to the first peg or pin, the second

6 CUPS AND THSIR CUSTOMS.

was to empty to the next pin, and so on ; the pins
were therefore so many measures to the compotators,
making them all drink alike ; and as the space between
each pin was such as to contain a large draught of
liquor, the company would be very liable by this
method to get drunk, especially when, if they drank
short of the pin, or beyond it, they were obliged to drink
again. For this reason, in Archbishop Anselm^s Ca-
nons, made in the Council in London in 1102, priests
are enjoined not to go to drinking-bouts, nor to drink
to pegs. This shows the antiquity of the invention,
which, at least, is as old as the Conquest. There is a
cup now in the possession of Henry Howard, Esq., of
Corby Castle, which is said to have belonged to Thomas
a Becket. It is made of ivory, set in gold, with an in-
scription round the edge of it, " Drink thy wine with
joy;'^ and on the lid are engraved the words " Sobi'ii
estote," with the initials T. B. interlaced with a mitre,
from which circumstance it is attributed to Thomas k
Becket, but in reality is a work of the 16th century.

Whitaker, in his 'History of Craven,' describing a
drinking-horn belonging to the Lister family, says,
'' Wine in England was first drank out of the mazer-
bowl, afterwards out of the bugle-horn. The mazer-
bowls were made from maple-wood, so named from the
German Maser, a spotted wood. Mr. Shirley pos-
sesses a very perfect mazer-bowl of the time of Richard
II. (1377-99). The bowl is of light mottled wood
highly polished, with a broad rim of silver gilt, round
the exterior of which are the following lines : —

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 7

" In the name of the Trinite
Fill the kup and di-inke to me."

Mr. Milner^ in 'Archeologia/ vol. xi. p. 411, describes a
maple-wood tankard, belonging to Lord Arundel, as of
Saxon workmanship coeval withEdgar, A.D.800,who also
passed a law, on the suggestion of St.Dunstan, to prevent
excessive drinking, by ordering cups to be marked into
spaces by pegs, that the quantity taken might be limited.

A considerable number of these ancient maple-wood
tankards also exist in the Museum at the Castle of Rosen-
burg. They were formerly made by the Norwegian pea-
sants during the long winter nights ; and their style of
ornament cannot be older than the 16th century.

Contemporaneous with mazer-bowls were others called
Piggins, Naggins, "Whiskins, Kannes, Pottles, Jakkes,
Pronnet-cups and Beakers.

Silver bowls were next introduced; and about the
latter end of Elizabeth^s reign these were superseded, as
wine grew dearer and men were temperate, by glasses
The earliest glasses used at banquets were Venetian
and no mention is made of glasses at state banquets
before the time of Elizabeth.

In the latter half of the last century, beer was usu-
ally carried from the cellar to the table in large tan-
kards made of leather, called Blackjacks, some of which
are still to be found, as also smaller ones more refined in
their workmanship, and having either an entire lining
of silver, or a rim of silver to drink from, on which it
was customary to inscribe the name of the owner,
together with his trade or occupation. "Tygs" were

O CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS?.

two-liandled drinking-cups of the time of Elizabeth,
rudely formed of Staffordshire fire-clay called " Tyg."
At the end of the last century, glasses were manufactured
of a taper form, like a tall champagne-glass, but not less
than between two and three feet in height, from which it
was considered a great feat to drain the contents, gene-
rally consisting of strong ale, without removing the
glass from the lips, and without spilling any of the
liquor, — a somewhat difficult task towards the conclu-
sion, on account of the distance the liquid had to pass
along the glass before reaching its receptacle.

The earliest record we have of wine is in the Book of
Genesis, where we are told, " Noah began to be an hus-
bandman, and he planted a vineyard,^^ from which it is
evident he knew the use that might be made of the fruit
by pressing the juice from it and preserving it : he was,
however, deceived in its strength by its sweetness ; for,
we ai'e told, "he drank of the wine, and was drunken.^'
'^V^len the offspring of Noah dispersed into the different
countries of the world, they carried the vine with them,
and taught the use which might be made of it. Asia
was the first country to which the gift was imparted ;
and thence it quickly spread to Europe and Africa, as
we learn from the Iliad of Homer ; from which book
we also learn that, at the time of the Trojan war, part of
the commerce consisted in the freight of wines. In
order to arrive at customs and historical evidence less
remote, we must take refuge, as historians have done
before us, in the inner life of the two great empires of
Greece and Rome, among whom we find the ceremonies

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 9

attached to driiikiugwere byno means sparse; and as the
Romans copied most of their social manners from the
Greeks^ the formalities observed among the two nations
in drinking differ but little. In public assemblies the
wine-cup was never raised to the lips without previously
invoking a blessing from a supposed good deity^ from
which custom it is probable that the grace-cup of later
days took its origin ; and at the conclusion of their feast,
a cup was quaffed to their good genius, termed "pocu-
lum boni Dei/' which corresponds in the present day
with the "coup d'etrier" of the French, the " dock uu
dorish^' of the Highland Scotch, and the "parting-
pot " of our own country. The Romans also frequently
drank the healths of their Emperors ; and among other
toasts they seldom forgot " absent friends,^' though we
have no record of their drinking to " all friends round
St, Peter's." It was customary at their entertainments
to elect, by throwing the dice, a person termed '^ arbiter
bibendi,'" to act much in the same way as our modern
toast-master, his business being to lay down to the
company the rules to be observed in drinking, with the
power to punish such as did not conform to them.
The gods having been propitiated, the master of the
feast drank his first cup to the most distinguished
guest, and then handed a full cup to him, in which
he acknowledged the compliment ; the cup was then
passed round by the company, invariably from left to
right, and always presented with the right hand : on
some occasions each person had his own cup, which a
servant replenished as soon as it was emptied, as

b5

10 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

described in the feast of Homer's heroes. The vessels
from which they drank were generally made of wood,
decorated with gold and silver, and crowned with
garlands, as also were their heads, particular flowers
and herbs being selected, which were supposed to keep
all noxious vapours from the brain. In some cases their
cups were formed entirely of gold, silver, or bronze. A
beautiful example of a bronze cup was found in Wilt-
shire, having the names of five Roman towns as an
inscription, and richly decorated with scenes of the
chase, from which it has been imagined that it belonged
to a club or society of persons, probably hunters, and
may have been one of their prizes : they also used cups
made from the horns of animals. The wines were com-
monly drunk out of small glasses called '^cyaths,"
which held just the twelfth of a pint. The chief beve-
rage among the Greeks and Eomans was the fermented
juice of the grape ; but the particular form of it is a
matter of some uncertainty. The "vinum Albanum" was
probably a kind of Frontignac, and of all wines was
most esteemed by the Romans^ — though Horace speaks
in such glowing terms of Falernian, which was a strong
and rough wine, and was not fit for drinking till it had
been kept ten years ; and even then it was customary to
mix honey with it to soften it. Homer speaks of a
famous wine of IMaronea in Thrace, which would bear
mixing with twenty times the quantity of water, al-
though it was a common practice among the natives to
drink it in its pure state. Salt water was commonly
used by the Romans to dilute their wine, which they

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 11

considered improved its flavour^ having previously boiled
it. This custom is said to have originated in the efforts
of a slave to prevent detection, who, having robbed his
master's wine-cask, filled it up with salt water.

The Romans also mixed with their wine assafoetida,
tar, myrrh, aloes, pepper, spikenard, poppies, worm-
wood, cassia, milk, chalk, bitter almonds, and cypress ;
and they also exposed their wines to the action of
smoke in a sort of kiln, which thickened and matured
it. These mixed wines were taken in a peculiar kind
of vessel called a " murrhine cup,'^ which was said to
impart a peculiar flavour to them ; and though the sub-
stance of which these cups were made is not known, it
is fair to surmise they were made of some aromatic
wood similar to the " bitter cup •" of the present day,
which is made from the wood of quassia tree.

The customary dilution among the Greeks appears
to have consisted of one part of wine to three parts of
water, — the word " nympha " being used in many
classical passages for water, as for example in a Greek
epigram the literal translation of which is, " He de-
lights in mingling with three Nymphs, making himself
the fourth -j" this alludes to the custom of mixing three
parts of water with one of wine. In Greece, the wines
of Cyprus, Lesbos, and Chio were much esteemed ; those
of Lesbos are especially mentioned by Horace as being
wholesome and agreeable, as in Ode 17, Book I. : —

" Hie innocentis pocula Lesbii
Duces sub umbra."

" Beneatb the shade you here may dine.
And quaff the hamiless Lesbian wine."

12 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

The origin of wine-making is also claimed by the
Persians, who have a tradition of its accidental dis-
covery by their king Jerasheed. The monarch being
fond of grapes had placed a quantity in a large vessel in
his cellar for future use. Some time afterwards the
vessel was opened, and the grapes were found in a
state of fermentation, and, being very acid, were be-
lieved by the king to be poisonous, and marked ac-
cordingly. A lady of his harem being racked by pain,
determined to poison herself, for which purpose she
drank some of the grape-juice — in fact, got very drunk.
After sleeping a considerable time, she awoke perfectly
well, and, being pleased with the result, managed in
time to finish all the poison. The monarch discovered
what she had done, and thence took the hint for his
own advantage.

The Armenians claim the origin of wine because
Noah planted his first vineyard near Erivan, upon the
spot where Noah and his family resided before the
Deluge.

The wines of Chio, however, held the greatest reputa-
tion, which was such that the inhabitants of that island
were thought to have been the first who planted the vine
and taught the use of it to otlicr nations. These wines
were held in such esteem and were of so high a value
at Home, that in the time of Luciillus, at their greatest
entertainments, they drank only one cup of them, at
the end of the feast ; but as sweetness and delicacy of
flavour were their prevailing qualities, this final cup
may have been taken as a liqueur. Both the Greeks

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 13

and the Eomans kept their wine in large earthenware
jarSj made with narrow necks, swollen bodies, and
pointed at the bottom, by which they were fixed into
the earth ; these vessels, called Amphorse, though
generally of earthenware, are mentioned by Homer as
being constructed of gold and of stone. Among the
Romans it was customary, at the time of filling their
wine-vessels, to inscribe upon them the name of the
consul under whose office they were filled, thus supply-
ing them with a good means of distinguishing their
vintages and pointing out the excellence of particular
ones, much in the same way as we now speak of the
vintages of ^20, ^34, or '41. Thus, Pliny mentions a
celebrated wine which took its name fi'om Opimius, in
whose consulate it was made, and was preserved good
to his time (a period of nearly 200 years). The vessel
used for carrying the wine to the table was called
Ampulla, being a small bulging bottle covered with
leather and having two handles, which it would be fair
to consider the original type of the famous " leathern
bottel," the inventor of which is so highly eulogized in
the old song, —

" I wish that liis soul in lieaven maj' dwell,
Who first invented the leathern bottel."

The wine was frequently cooled by keeping the
vessels in snow; and it was brought to the table in
flasks, which, instead of being corked, had a little fine
oil poured into the necks to exclude the air.

Although the ancients were well acquainted with the
excellence of wine, they were not ignorant of the dangers

14 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

attending the abuse of it. Salencus passed a law for-
bidding the use of wine, upon pain of death, except in
case of sickness ; and the inhabitants of Marseilles and
Miletus prohibited the use of it to women. At Rome,
in the early ages, young persons of high birth were
not permitted to drink wine till they attained the age of
thirty, and to women the use of it was absolutely for-
bidden; but Seneca complains of the violation of this law,
and says that in his day the women valued themselves
upon carrying excess of wine to as great a height as the
most robust men. " Like them," says he, "they pass
whole nights at tables, and, with a full glass of unmixed
wane in their hands, they glory in vying with them, and,
if they can, in overcoming them/^ This worthy philo-
sopher, however, appears not to have considered excess
of drinking in men a vice ; for he goes so far as to
advise men of high-strained minds to get intoxicated
now and then. "Not," says he, "that it may over-
power us, but only relax our overstrained faculties."
Soon afterwards he adds, "Do you call Cato's excess
in wine a vice ? Much sooner may you be able to
prove drunkenness to be a virtue, than Cato to be
vicious."

The first history of wine was written in Latin by
Bacci in the 16th century; and in 1775 Sir Edward
Barry composed his observations on " Wines of the
Ancients," whose authority, though not reliable, is
curious. After him came Dr. Henderson on Wines ;
and the best treatise of the present day is the History
of Wine by Cyrus Redding. To all winc-kccpcrs and

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 15

consumers I would recommend a perusal of a little
work called * The Wine Guide/ by Frederick C. Mills
(1861).

Let us^ with these casual remarks, leave the Greeks
and Eomans, with jovial old Horace at their head,
quaj9Sng his cup of rosy Falernian, his brow smothered
in evergreens (as was his wont), and pass on to our
immediate ancestry, the Anglo-Saxon race — not for-
getting, however, that the ancient Britons had their
veritable cup of honeyed drink, called Metheglin,
though this may be said indeed to have had a still
greater antiquity, if Ben Johnson is right in pronouncing
it to have been the favourite drink of Demosthenes
while composing his excellent and mellifluous orations.
The Anglo-Saxons not only enjoyed their potations,
but conducted them with considerable pomp and
ceremony, although, as may readily be conceived, from
want of civilization, excess prevailed. In one of our
earliest Saxon romances we learn that " it came to the
mind of Hrothgar to build a great mead-hall, which was
to be the chief palace ;" and, further on, we find this
palace spoken of as " the beer-hall, where the Thane
performed his office — he that in his hand bare the
twisted ale-cup, from which he poured the bright, sweet
liquor, while the poet sang serene, and the guests
boasted of their exploits.^^ Furthermore we learn that,
when the queen entered, she served out the liquor, first
offering the cup to her lord and master, and afterwards
to the guests. In this romance, " the dear or precious
drinking-cup, from which they quaffed the mead/^ is

16 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

also spoken of: and as these worthies had the pecuhar
custom of burying the drinking-cups with their dead,
we may conclude they were held in high esteem, while
at the same time it gives us an opportunity of actually
seeing the vessels of which the romance informs us ; for
in Saxon graves, or barrows, they are now frequently
found. They were principally made of glass ; and the
twisted pattern alluded to appears to have been the
most prevailing shape. Several other forms have been
discovered, all of which, however, are so formed with
rounded bottoms that they will not stand by them-
selves ; consequently their contents must have been
quaffed before replacing them on the table. It is
probable that from this peculiar shape we derive our
modern word " tumbler -j" and, if so, the freak attributed
to the Prince Regent, and since his time, occasionally
performed at our Universities, of breaking the stems
off the wine-glasses in order to ensure their being
emptied of the contents, was no new scheme, it having
been employed by our ancestors in a more legitimate
and less expensive manner. We also find, in Anglo-
Saxon graves, pitchers from which the drink was poured,
differing but little from those now in common use, as
w^ell as buckets in which the ale was conveyed from the
cellar. That drinking-cups among the Anglo-Saxons
w^ere held in high esteem, and were probably of con-
siderable value, there can be no doubt, from the frequent
mention made of their being bequeatlied after death ;
in proof of which, from among many others, we may
quote the iustance of the Mercian king Witlaf giving

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 17

to the Abbey of Crowland the horn of his table, "that
the elder monks may drink from it on festivals, and in
their benedictions remember sometimes the soul of the
donor/^ as well as the one mentioned in Gale's ' History
of Ramsey/ to the Abbey of which place the Lady
Ethelgiva presented " two silver cnps for the use of the
brethren in the refector}'', in order that, while drink is
served in them, my memory may be more firmly im-
printed on their hearts." Another curious proof of the
estimation in which they were held is, that in pictures of
warlike expeditions, where representations of the valuable
spoils are given, we invariably find drinking- vessels por-
trayed most prominently. The ordinary drinks of the
Anglo-Saxons were ale and mead, though wine was also
used by them ; but wine is spoken of as " not the drink
of children or of fools, but of elders and wise men :" and
the scholar says he does not drink wine, because he is
not rich enough to buy it; from which, en passant,
we may notice that scholars were not rich men even in
those days, and up to the present time, we fear, have but
little improved their worldly estate. We cannot learn
that the Saxons were in the habit of compounding
drinks, and, beyond the fact of their pledging each
other with the words "Drinc-hael" and " Wsess-hseV
accompanying the words with a kiss, and that min-
strelsy formed a conspicuous adjunct to their drinking-
festivities, we can obtain but little knowledge of the
customs they pursued. The Yedic " cup-drink " was
" Soma," which is described as being " sweet, honied,
sharp and well-flavoured," the liquor of the Gods. One

18 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

of the many hymns in the Vedas in its praise may be

thus translated —

" We have drunk the Soma
And are entered into Light,
So that we know the Gods.
What can now an enemy do to us ?
What can the malice of any mortal effect
Against thee and us, O ! thou immortal God ? "

For further information on this and other points, much
may be learnt from Mr. Wright^s excellent book of
'Domestic 'Manners and Sentiments of the Middle
Ages/ where some good illustrations of Saxon drinking-
scenes are sketched from the Harleian and other
manuscripts. From the scarcity of materials descrip-
tive of the social habits of the Normans, we glean but
little as to their customs of drinking ; in all probability
they differed but slightly from those of the Saxons,
though at this time wine became of more frequent use,
the vessels from which it was quaffed being bowl-
shaped, and generally made of glass. Will of Malms-
bury, describing the customs of Glastonbury soon after
the Conquest, says, that on particular occasions the
monks had "mead in their cans, and wine in their
grace-cup.''^ Excess in drinking appears to have been
looked upon with leniency; for, in the stories of Reginald
of Durham, we read of a party drinking all night
at the house of a priest ; and in another he mentions
a youth passing the whole night drinking at a tavern
with his monastic teacher, till the one cannot prevail on
the other to go home. The qualities of good wine in
the 12th century are thus singularly set forth : — " It

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 19

should be clear like the tears of a penitent^ so that
a man may see distinctly to the bottom of the glass ;
its colour should represent the greenness of a buffaloes
horn ; when drunk, it should descend impetuously like
thunder ; sweet-tasted as an almond ; creeping like
a squirrel; leaping like a roebuck; strong like the
building of a Cistercian monastery ; glittering like a
spark of fire ; subtle like the logic of the schools of
Paris; delicate as fine silk; and colder than crystal/^
If we pursue our theme through the 13th, 14th, and
15th centuries, we find but little to edify us, those
times being distinguished more by their excess and
riot than by superiority of beverages or the customs
attached to them. It would be neither profitable nor
interesting to descant on scenes of brawling drunken-
ness, which ended not unfrequently in fierce battles —
or pause to admire the congregation of female gossips
at the taverns, where the overhanging sign was either
the branch of a tree, from which we derive the saying
that " good wine needs no bush,^^ or the equally common
appendage of a besom hanging from the window, which
has supplied us with the idea of "hanging out the
broom." The chief wine drank at this period was
Malmsey, first imported into England in the 13th cen-
tury, when its average price w^as about oO^. a butt;
this wine, however, attained its greatest popularity in
the loth century. There is a story in connexion with
this wine which makes it familiar to every schoolboy ;
and that is, the part it played in the death of the Duke
of Clarence. Whether that nobleman did choose a butt

CD >

Ml ; :i

AMTAHm

20 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

of Malmsey, and thus carry out the idea of drowning
his cares in wine, as well as his body, matters but
little, we think, to our readers. We may however
mention that although great suspicion has been thrown
on the truth of the story, the only two contemporary
writers who mention his death, Fabyan and Comines,
appear to have had no doubt that the Duke of Clarence
was actually drowned in a butt of Malmsey. In the
records kept of the expenses of Mary, Queen of
Scots, during her captivity at Tutbury, we find a weekly
allowance of Malmsey granted to her for a bath. In
a somewhat scarce French book, written in the 15th
century, entitled ' La Legende de Maitx'e Pierre Fai-
feri,^ we find the following verse relating to the death
of the Duke of Clarence : —

"I liave seen tlie Duke of Clarence

(So his wayward fate had will'd),
By his special order, drown'd

In a cask with Malmsey fill'd.
That that death should strike his fancy,

This the reason, I suppose ;
He might think that hearty drinking

Would appease his dying throes."

A wine called " Clary" was also drank at this period.
It appears to have been an infusion of the herb of
that name in spirit, and is spoken of by physicians of
the time as an excellent cordial for the stomach, and
highly efficacious in the cure of hysterical afi'cctions.
This may in some measure account for the statement
in the Household Ordinances for the well keeping of
the Princess Cecil, afterwards mother to that right lusty

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 21

and handsome King, Edward IV. ; we there find it laid
down " that for the maintenance of honest mirth she
shall take, an hour before bedtime, a cup of Clary-
wine." " Red wine ^' is also spoken of in the reign of
Henry VIII. ; but it is uncertain to what class of wine
it belonged, or whence it came : if palatable, how-
ever, its cheapness would recommend it ; for at the
marriage of Gervys Clinton and Mary Neville, three
hogsheads of it, for the wedding-feast, were bought for
five guineas. Gascony and Guienne wines were sold
in the reign of Henry VIII. at eighteenpence a gallon,
and Malmsey, Eomauey, and sack at twelvepence a
pint. In the reign of Edward IV. few places were
allowed more than two taverns, and London was limited
to forty. None but those who could spend 100 marks
a year, or the son of a Duke, IMarquis, Earl, or Baron,
were allowed to keep more than ten gallons of wine at
one time; and only the High Sherifi's, Magistrates of
Cities, and the inhabitants of fortified towns misht
keep vessels of wine for their own use. In the same
reign, however, we learn that the Archbishop of York
consumed 100 tons on his enthronement, and as much
as four pipes a month were consumed in some of our
noblemen's houses. AVe must not, however, pass over
the 15th century without proclaiming it as the dawn of
the " Cup-epoch,'"" if we may be allowed the term, as
gleaned from the rolls of some of the ancient colleges
of our Universities. In the computus of Magstoke Priory,
A.D. 1447, is an entry in Latin, the translation of which
seems to be this : — '^Paid for raisin wine, with comfits

22 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

and spices, when Sir S. Montfovd's fool was here and
exhibited his merriments in the oriel chamber." And
even in Edward III.'s reign, we read that at the Christ-
mas feasts the drinks were a collection of spiced liquors,
and cinnamon and grains of paradise were among the
dessert confections — evidence of compound drinks being
in fashion; and these, although somewhat too much medi-
cated to be in accordance with our present taste, deserve
well of us as leading to better things. Olden worthies
who took their cups regularly, and so lived clean and
cheerful lives, when they were moved to give up their
choice recipes for the public good, described them under
the head of " kitchen physic ; " for the oldest " Curry "
or Cookery Books (the words are synonymous) include,
under this head, both dishes of meats and brewages of
drinks. One cup is described as " of mighty power in
driving away the cobweby fogs that dull the brain,^^
another as " a generous and right excellent cordial, very
comforting to the stomach;" and their possession of
these good qualities was notably the reason of their ap-
pearance at entertainments. Among the most promi-
nent ranks the medicated composition called Hypocras,
also styled " Ypocras for Lords," for the making of
which various recipes are to be found, one of which we
will quote : —

" Take of Aqua vitse (brandy) . . . 5 oz.

Pepper 2 oz.

Ginger 2 oz.

Cloves 2 oz.

Grains of Paradise . . . . . 2 oz.

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 23

Ambergris 5 grs.

Musk 2 grs.

Infuse these for twenty-four hours, then put a pound
of sugar to a quart of red wine or cider, and drop three
or four drops of the infusion into it, and it will make it
taste richly." This compound was usually given at
marriage festivals, when it was introduced at the com-
mencement of the banquet, served hot ; for it is said to
be of so comforting and generous a nature that the
stomach would be at once put into good temper to
enjoy the meats provided. Hypocras (so called from
a particular bag through which it was strained) was
also a favourite winter beverage; and we find in an
old almanac of 1699 the lines —

" Sack, Hypocras, now, and bm-nt brandy-
Are drinks as good and warm as can be."

Hypocras, however, is mentioned as early as the 14th
century. From this period we select our champion of
compound drinks in no less a personage than the noblest
courtier of Queen Bess ; for, among other legacies of
price, Sir Walter Raleigh has handed down to us a recipe
for " Cordial Water," which, in its simplicity and good-
ness, stands alone among the compounds of the age.
" Take," says he, " a gallon of strawberries and put them
into a pint of aqua vitse ; let them stand four days, then
strain them gently off, and sweeten the liquor as it
pleaseth thee." This beverage, though somewhat too
potent for modern palates, may, by proper dilution, be
rendered no unworthy cup even in the present age.
From the same noble hand we get a recipe for Sack

24 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

Posset, which full well shows us propriety of taste in

its compounder. "^ Boil a quart of cream with quantum

sufficit of sugar, mace, and nutmeg ; take half a pint

of sack, and the same quantity of ale, and boil them well

together, adding sugar ; these, being boiled separately,

are now to be added. Heat a pewter dish very hot, and

cover your basin with it, and let it stand by the fire

for two or three hours."

With regard to wines, we find in the beginning of the

16th century that the demand for Malmsey was small ;

and in 1531 we find Sack first spoken of, that being the

name applied to the vintages of Candia, Cyprus, and

Spain. Shakspeare pronounced Malmsey to be "ful-

som,"" and bestowed all his praises on "fertil sherries;"

and when Shakspeare makes use of the word Sack, he

evidently means by it a superior class of wine. Thus

Sir Launcelot Sparcock, in the " London Prodigal,"

says,

" Drawer, let me liave sack for us old men :
For tliese girls aud knaves small wiues are best."

In all probability, the sack of Shakspeare was very much
allied to, if not precisely the same as, our sherry ; for
Falstaff says, " You rogue ! there is lime in this sack too ;
there is nothing but roguery to be found in villanous
man ; yet a cov*'ard is worse than sack with lime in it ,"
and wc know that lime is used in the manufacture of
sherry, in order to free it from a portion of malic and
tartaric acids, and to assist in producing its dry quality.
Sack is spoken of as late as 1717, in a parish register,
which allows the minister a pint of it on the Lord's day,

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 35

in the winter season; and Swift, writing in 1727, has

the lines —

*' As clever Tom Cliucli, wliile the rabble was bawling,
Eode stately through Ilolbom to die of his calling,
He stopped at the ' George ' for a bottle of sack,
And promised to pay for it when he came back,"

He was probably of the same opinion as the Elizabe-
than poet, who sang,

" Sacks will make the merry minde sad.
So will it make the melancholie glad.
If mirthe and sadnesse doth in sacke remain,
When I am sad I'll take some sacke again."

A recipe of this time, attributed to Sir Fleetwood
Fletcher, is curious in its composition in more ways
than one ; and, as we seldom find such documents in
rhyme, we give it : —

" From famed Barbadoes, on the western main,
Fetch sugar, oimces fom- j fetch sack from Spain,
A pint ; and from the Eastern coast,
Nutmeg, the glory of oux northern toast ;
O'er flaming coals let them together heat,
Till the all-conqueiing sack dissolve the sweet ;
O'er such another fire put eggs just ten,
New-born fi'om tread of cock and rump of hen ;
Stir them with steady hand, and conscience pricking.
To see the untimely end of ten fine chicken ;
From shining shelf take down the brazen skillet —
A qiiart of milk from gentle cow will fill it j
When boil'd and cold put milk and sack to eggs.
Unite them firmly like the triple leagues ;
And on the fire let them together dwell
TiU miss sing twice ' you must not kiss and tell ; '
Each lad and lass take up a silver spoon.
And fall on fiercely like a starved dragoon."

c

26 CUPS AND THETR CUSTOMS.

About this time, one Lord Holies, who probably
represented the total abstainers of the age, invented a
drink termed Hydromel, made of honey, spring-water,
and ginger ; and a cup of this taken at night, said he,
" will cure thee of all troubles," — thus acknowledging
the stomachic virtues of cups, though some warping of
his senses would not let him believe, to a curable ex-
tent, in more potent draughts : being in charity with
him, we hope his was a saving faith ; but we have our
doubts of it, he died so young. Another recipe of the
same nature was, " The Ale of health and strength," by
the Duchess of St. Albans, which appears to have been
a decoction of all the aromatic herbs in the garden
(whether agreeable or otherwise), boiled up in small
beer ; and, thinking this account of its composition is
sufficient, w^e will not indulge our readers with the
various items or proportions. One of the most amusing
descriptions of old English cheer we ever met with is
that of Master Stephen Perlin, a French physician,
who was in England during the reigns of Edward VI.
and Mary. He says, writing for the benefit of his coun-
trymen, " The English, one with the other, are joyous,
and are very fond of music ; likewise they are great
drinkers. IVow remember, if you please, that in this
country they generally use vessels of silver when they
drink wine ; and they will say to you usually at table,
' Goude chere ;' and also they will say to you more
than one hundred times, 'Drind oui,^ and you will
reply to them in their language, ' Iplaigui.^ They
drink their beer out of earthenware pots, of which the

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 27

handles and the covers are of silver/' &c. Worthy
Master Perlin seems hardly to have got on with his
spelling of the English tongue while he was studying
our habits ; his account, however, of olden customs is
reliable and curious. The custom of pledging and
drinking healths is generally stated to have originated
with the Anglo-Saxons ; but, with such decided evidence
before ns of similar customs among the Greeks and
Romans, we must at any rate refer it to an earlier
period ; and indeed we may rationally surmise that, in
some form or other, the custom has existed from time
immemorial. In later times the term " toasting " was
employed to designate customs of a similar import,
though the precise date of the application of this term
is uncertain ; and although we cannot accept the expla-
nation given in the 24th number of the ' Tatler,' yet,
for its quaintness, we will quote it : — ■

" It is said that while a celebrated beauty was in-
dulging in her bath, one of the crowd of admirers who
surrounded her took a glass of the water in which the
fair one was dabbling, and drank her health to the
company, when a gay fellow offered to jump in, saying,
' Though he liked not the liquor, he would have the
toast.' " This tale proves that toasts were put into
beverages in those days, or the wag would not have
applied the simile to the fair bather ; and in the reign
of Charles II., Earl Rochester writes,

" Make it so large that, fill'd with sack
Up to tlie swelling brim,
Vast toasts on the delicious lake.
Like ships at sea, may swim."

c2

28 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

And in a panegyric on Oxford ale, written by Warton
in 1720, we have the lines —

" My sober evening let the tankard bless,
Witb toast embrown'd, and fragi'ant nutmeg fraugbt,
^Miile tlie ricli draugbt, witb oft-repeated whifFs,
Tobacco mild improves."

Johnson, in his translation of Horace, makes use of the
expression in Ode I. Book IV. thus —

" There jest and feast ; make liim thine host,
If a fit liver thou dost seek to toast 5 "

and Prior, in the " Camelion," says,

" But if at first he minds his hits,
And drinks champaign among the wits,
Five deep he toasts the towering lasses,
Repeats your verses vtrote on glasses."

This last line has reference to the custom pursued in
the clubs of the eighteenth century, of writing verses
on the brims of their cups ; they also inscribed on
them the names of the favourite ladies whom they
toasted : and Dr. Arbuthnot ascribes the name of the
celebrated Kit- Cat Club to the toasts drank there,
rather than to the renowned pastry-cook, Christopher
Kat ; for he says,

" From no trim beaux its name it boasts,
Grey statesmen or gi'een wits ;
But from its pell-mell pack of toasts.
Of old Cat and young Kits."

Among the latter may be mentioned Lady Mary Mon-
tagu, who was toasted at the age of eight years;
whde among the former denomination we must class

CUPS AXD THEIR CUSTOMS. 29

Lady ]\tolyneux, who is said to have died with a pipe
in her mouth. In the 17th century the custom
of drinking health was conducted with great ceremony ;
each person rising up in turn, with a full cup, named
some individual to whom he drank ; he then drank the
whole contents of the cup and turned it upside down
upon the table, giving it at the same time a fillip to
make it ring, or, as our ancient authority has it, '' make
it cry ' twango/ " Each person followed in his turn ;
and, in order to prove that he had fairly emptied his
cup, he was to pour all that remained in it on his
thumb-nail ; and if there was too much left to remain
on the nail, he was compelled to drink his cup full
again. If the person was present whose health was
drank, he was expected to remain perfectly still during
the operation, and at the conclusion to make an incli-
nation of his head, — this being the origin of our custom
of taking wine with each other, which, with sorrow be
it said, is fast exploding. Avery usual toast for a man
to give was the health of his mistress ; and in France,
when this toast was given, the proposer was expected to
drink his cup full of wine as many times as there were
letters in her name.

We now pass on to times which seem, in their cus-
toms, to approach more nearly to the present, yet far back
enough to be called old times; and we think it may be
pardoned if we indulge in some reminiscences of them,
tacking on to our short-lived memories the greater recol-
lection of history, and thus reversing the wheels of time,
which are hurrying us forward faster than we care to go.

30 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

J^'or we hold it to be an excusable matter, this halting
awhile and looking back to times of simpler manners than
those we are living in, of heartier friendships, of more
genial trustings; and that these good qualities were
preeminently those current during the 17th and 18th
centuries we have abundant proof. Has not one of the
most noble sentiments in the English language come
down to us in a cup — the cup of kindness, which we are
bidden to take for " Auld Lang Syne" ? And truly there
come to us from this age passed by, but leaving behind
an ever-living freshness which can be made a heritage
of cheerfulness to the end of time, such testimonies of
good done by associable as well as social intercourse,
that, were we cynics of the most churlish kind, instead
of people inclined to be kind and neighbourly, we could
not refuse acknowledgment of the part played in such
deeds by the cup of kindness. Be it remembered,
however, such bright oases in social history do not
shine from gluttonous tables, and are not the property
of hard-drinking circles, with their attendant vices. We
seek for them in vain at the so-called social boards of
the last century, where men won their spurs by exces-
sive wine-drinking, and " three-bottle men '^ were the
only gentlemen-, neither do we meet them amid the
carousals of AVhitehall and Alsatia, or, nearer to our
own day, among the vicious coteries of the Regency.
The scenes we like to recall and dwell upon are those
of merry-makings and jollity — or of friendly meetings,
as when gentle Master Izaac, returning from his
fishing, brings with him two-legged fish to taste his

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 31

brewage (and a very pleasant and commendable cup the
great master of the gentle art will drink with them),
or when pious Master Herbert chances to meet with a
man he liketh, who hath the manner of loving all things
for the good that is in them, and who, like his greater
companion, (for no one in that quality of mind was
greater than Herbert,) had a respect for what, in others,
were occasions of stumbling, could use good gifts with-
out abusing them, and think the loving-cup of spiced
wine an excellent good cordial for the heart, or when
Dr. Donne (scarce a man in England wiser than he),
laying aside for the time his abstruse learning, mixed a
mighty cup of gillyflower sack, and talked over it with
Sir Kenelm Digby (hardly a lesser man than himself),
of the good gifts lavishly offered, but by some rudely
abused, and by others unthankfully taken, discussed
the merits of plants and fruits, or the virtues, harder to
be discovered, of stones and metals, while they mar-
velled at that scheme which adapted each body, animate
or inanimate, to the station ordained to it, and at the
infinite goodness of Him who made man head of all,
and gave him power and discernment that he might
show, by the moderate use of things healthy and
nourishing, the wisdom of Him who ordained them to
cheer and to cherish. A great regard for the whole-
some had Sir Kenelm Digby, whose carefulness in the
concoction of his favourite cup was such that he could
not brew it aright if he had not Hyde-Park water — a
rule of much value in Sir Kenelm's day, no doubt ; but
modern " improvements," unfortunately, interfere with

32 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

the present use of it. Other apostles of the truest
temperance (moderation) there were, and we cherish
them as men who have deserved well of their country.
Dr. Parr, for example, who could drink his cider-cup
on the village green on a Sunday evening, while his
farming parishioners played at bowls, — or again, still
more legibly written in social history, and to some ex-
tent leaving an impress upon our national life, the
club-gatherings of the last century, where men of far-
seeing and prudent philosophy (Addison, Steele, Gold-
smith, Johnson, and others), whose names are inter-
woven with the history of their time, meeting together,
talked of human joys and human sorrows over claret-
cups — men witty themselves, and the cause of wit in
other men, like sweet Sir John, whose devotion to
'' sherris sack " cost him his character, and will there-
fore deny him admission to our gallery of men who
have drank wisely and warily, and therefore well.

While speaking of these times, we must not forget to
mention "the cup that cheers, but not inebriates;" for
it was from the introduction of tea- and coffee-houses
that clubs sprang into existence, by a process unneces-
sary here to dilate on, but of which an excellent account
may be found in Philip and Grace Wharton^s ' Wits
and Beaux of Society.^ The first coffee-house esta-
blished was the ' Grecian,^ kejit by one Constantine,
a Greek, who advertised that " the pure berry of the
coffee was to be had of him as good as could be any-
where found," and shortly afterwards succeeded in
securing a flourishing trade by selling an infusion of

CUPS AN'D THEIR CUSTOMS. 33

the said berry in small cups. After him came Mr.
Garraway, who set forth that " tea was to be had of
him in leaf and in drink;" and thus took its rise
Garraway's well-known coffee-house, so celebrated for
the sayings and doings of Dr. Johnson, one of which,
being somewhat to the point, we may, in passing,
notice. " I admit," said he, '' that there are sluggish
men who are improved by drinking, as there are fruits
which are not good till they are rotten ; there are such
men, but they are medlars."

In the eighteenth century the principal cups that we
find noted were those compounded of Beer, the names
of which are occasionally suggestive of too great a
familiarity on the part of their worshippers, — to wit,
Humptie-dumptie, Clamber-clown, Stiffle, Blind Pin-
neaux. Old Pharaoh, Three threads, Knock-me-down,
Hugmatee, and Foxcomb. All these were current at
the beginning of that century. Then, towards the end
of it we find Cock-ale, Stepony, Stitchback, Northdown,
and Mum. Mum is ale brewed from malted wheat.
It is so called from Christison Mumme, a brewer of
Braunschweig in Wolfenbiittel, who lived at the end of
the 15th century, and whose house is still standing. ^

When three Essex men meet to drink a pot together, the ,j
draught taken by the first is called the Neckem, that "*
by the second the Sinkem, the last man di-aining the
pot by drinking the Swankens, from which we find, in
Bailey^s Dictionary, " Swankie," the drop which remains
at the bottom of a cup. "Bragget" is a northland
word derived from the hero Braga, who is one of the

c 5

34 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

mytliologinal gods of the Edda, and consisted of spiced
ale drank on Mothering Sunday, a kind of metheglin
derived from Bragawd (Welsh). It is still drank in
Lancashire All these were very similar in composition,
and their precise recipes are scarcely worth recording.
Many noted houses of entertainment, both in town and
country, were distinguished by their particular brewage
of these compounds. But we can only find a single
instance of a house becoming famous in this century
for claret-cups, in many respects the most desirable of
any drink : that one hostelry was the ' Heaven,^ in
Fleet Street, so often quoted by the ephemeral writers
of the age.

Modern English customs connected with drinking
may be said to be conspicuous from their absence;
for, save in the Grace-cups, and Loving-cups of civic
entertainments and other state occasions, we do not
remember any customs worth alluding to. Certain of
our cathedral establishments and colleges retain practices
of ancient date relating to the passing round of the
grace-cup ; of such is the Durham Prebend's cup, which
is drank at certain feasts given by the resident Prebend
to the corporation and inhabitants of the city, and for
which, under an old charter, he is allowed a liberal sum
of money annually. This composition is still brewed
from the original recipe, and served in the original
ancient silver cups, which are at least a foot high, and
hold between two and three quarts. The cups are
carried into the room by a chorister-boy, attired in a
black gown, preceded by a verger, also wearing a black

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 35

gowa trimmed with silver braid, and bearing in his
hand a silver wand. A Latin grace is then chanted,
and the Prebend presents the boy with a shilling, who,
having placed the cups on the table, marches out of the
room, accompanied by the verger. The cups are then
passed down each side of the table, and quaflFed by each
guest in succession to an appropriate toast.

For the " sensation-drinks " which have lately tra-
velled across the Atlantic we have no friendly feeling ;
they are far too closely allied to the morning dram,
with its thousand verbal mystifications, to please our
taste ; and the source from which " eye-openers " and
"smashers" come is one too notorious to be wel-
comed by any man who deserves well of his country :
so we will pass the American bar, with its bad brandies
and fiery wine, and express our gratification at the
poor success which " Pick-me-ups," " Corpse-revivers,"
"Chain-lightning," and the like have had in this
country.

HINTS TO CUP-BKEWERS.

There are certain things to be observed in the com-
pounding of cups, which, though patent to every man^s
common sense, we may be pardoned for mentioning.
When a drink is to be served hot, never let the mixture
boil, but let the heat be applied as gently as possible :

3G CUPS AXD THEIR CUSTOMS.

a fierce heat causes the spirit to evaparate,, and moreover
destroys or materially alters the fine aromatic flavour
on which so much of its delicacy depends. When the
hot cup is brewed, be careful to retain the heat as much
as possible, by a covering to the vessel ; and let it not
be served till the moment it is required. On the other
hand, when a cool cup is to be made, its greatest ad-
junct is ice, either in lumps, which may be retained in
the cup, or, as is preferable, a portion of pounded ice
should be violently shaken with the mixtui-e and after-
wards strained off. The best way of pounding ice is
to wrap a block of it in a napkin and beat it with a
mallet or rolling-pin ; and the only way of breaking
up a block of ice into conveniently sized pieces with
accuracy is by using a large needle or other sharp-
pointed instrument. The rind of lemon and orange is
of great service in flavouring cups; and it is of the
utmost importance that this should be pared as thinly
as possible, for it is only in the extreme outer portion
that the flavour is contained. In making all cups
where lemon-peel is employed, reject the ivMte part
altogether, as worse than useless; it imparts an un-
pleasant flavour to the beverage, and tends to make it
muddy and discoloured.

It was customary in olden times, as well as at
the present, to communicate flavouring to compound
drinks by means of different herbs, among which first
in point of flavour is Borage, which is mentioned, as
early as the 13th century, as growing in the garden
of John De Garlande; and in a list of plants of the

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 37

15th ceutuvy, Borage stands first. It is spoken of in
the commencement of the 18th century as one of the
four cordial flowers, being of known virtue to revive
the hypochondriac and cheer the hard student. This
Borage is a plant having a small hlue flower, and
growing luxuriantly in most gardens; by placing a
sprig or two of it in any cool drink, it communicates a
peculiar refreshing flavour which cannot be imitated by
any other means. When, however, Borage cannot be
procured, a thin slice of cucumber-peel forms a very
good substitute; but care must be taken to use but
one slice, or the cup will be too much impregnated with
the flavour to be palatable. A small piece from the
outer rind of the stalk is considered by some to possess
superior excellence. We have made many experiments
to extract this peculiar flavouring from Borage, in all
of which we have been totally unsuccessful ; nor do we
imagine it possible to separate it from the plant, in
order to gain these peculiar properties. Balm is an-
other herb which is used foi- flavouring drinks ; but we
do not recommend it, although we find it spoken of in
an old medical work as a very good help to digestion,
and to open obstructions to the brain, &c. &c. Mint
gives an agreeable flavour to Juleps, but is not of
general application. A sprig of sweet-scented verbena,
put into some cups, imparts an aromatic and agreeable
flavour ; but all these herbs must be used with caution,
and are only pleasant when judiciously introduced.

Let your utensils be clean, and your ingredients of
first-rate quality, and, unless you have some one very

38 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

trustworthy and reliable, take the matter in hand your-
self; for nothing is so annoying to the host, or so
unpalatable to the guests, as a badly compounded cup.
In order that the magnitude of this important business
may be fully understood and properly estimated, we
will transfer some of the excellent aphoristic remarks
of the illustrious Billy Dawson (more properly Bully
Dawson, spoken of by Charles Lamb in his ' Popular
Fallacies^), whose illustricity consisted in being the
only man who could brew Punch. This is his testi-
mony : — " The man who sees, does, or thinks of any-
thing while he is making Punch, may as well look for
the North-west Passage on Mutton Hill. A man can
never make good Punch unless he is satisfied, nay
positive, that no man breathing can make better. I
can and do make good Punch, because I do nothing
else ; and this is my way of doing it. I retii-e to a
solitary corner, with my ingredients ready sorted ; they
are as follows ; and I mix them in the order they are
here written. Sugai", twelve tolerable lumps; hot
water, one pint ; lemons, two, the juice and peel ; old
Jamaica rum, two gills ; brandy, one gill ; porter or
stout, half a gill; arrack, a slight dash. I allow my-
self five minutes to make a bowl on the foregoing pro-
portions, carefully stirring the mixture as I furnish the
ingredients until it actually foams ; and then. Kanga-
roos ! how beautiful it is ! ! " If, however, for conveni-
ence, you place the matter in the hands of your do-
mestic, I would advise you to caution her on the im-
portance of the office; and this could not be better

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 39

effected than by using the words of the witty Dr.

King :—

" 0 Peo-gy, Peggy, when tliou go'st to brew,
Consider well what you 're about to do ;
Be very wise— veiy sedately tliink
That what you 're going to make is— drink ;
Consider who must drink that drink, and then
Wliat 'tis to have the praise of honest men ;
Then future ages shall of Pegg}^ tell,
The nymph who spiced the brewages so well."

Respecting the size of the cup no fixed rule can be
laid down, because it must mainly depend upon the
number who have to partake of it ; and be it remem-
bered that, as cups are not intended to be quaffed ad
libitum, as did Bicias, of whom Cornelius Agrippa
says,

'' To Bicias shee it gave, and sayd,
' Drink of this cup of mjTie ;'
He quickly quafte it, and left not
Of licom-e any sygne,"

let quality prevail over quantity, and try to hit a happy
medium between the cup of Nestor, which was so large
that a young man could not carry it, and the country
half-pint of our own day, which we have heard of as
being so small that a string has to be tied to it to pre-
vent it slipping down with the cider.

In order to appreciate the delicacy of a well-com-
pounded cup, we would venture to suggest this laconic
rule, "When you drink — think."

40 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

OLD RECIPES.

First and foremost among compound drinks^ with re-
gard to priority of date, stands Ilydromel, the favourite
beverage of the ancient Britons, which is probably the
same as that made and used at the present day under
the name of Metheghn, a word derived from the Welsh
Medey-glin, and spoken of by Howell, who was Clerk
to the Privy Council in 1640. In ancient times, how-
ever, this compound was made by simply diluting
honey with water; but at the present day, substances
are usually added to it to cause it to ferment ; and when
made in this way, it differs little from mead or bragget.

Metheglin.

To nine gallons of boiling water put twenty-eight
pounds of honey, add the peel of three lemons, with a
small quantity of ginger, mace, cloves, and rosemary ;
when this is quite cold, add two tablespoonfuls of yeast.
Put this into a cask, and allow it to ferment ; at the
expiration of six months, bottle it off for use.

Another favourite drink in olden times was that called
" Lamb's Wool,^' which derived its name from the 1st
of November, a day dedicated to the angel presiding
over fruits and seeds, and termed " La Mas-ubal," which
has subsequently been corrupted into " lamb's wool."

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 41

Lamb's Wool.

To one quart of strong hot ale add the pulp of six
roasted apples, together with a small quantity of grated
nutmeg and ginger^ with a sufficient quantity of raw
sugar to sweeten it ; stir the mixture assiduously, and
let it be served hot.

Of equal antiquity, and of nearly the same composi-
tion, is the Wassail Bowl, which in many parts of
England is still partaken of on Christmas Eve, and is
alluded to by Shakspeare in his " Midsummer Night's
Dream." In Jesus College, Oxford, we are told, it is
drunk on the Festival of St. David, out of a silver gilt
bowl holding ten gallons, which was presented to that
College by Sir Watkin William Wynne, in 1732. ^TIV^

The Wassail Bowl. j iT> -f*

Put into a quart of warm beer one pound of raw, ^j^^
sugar, on which grate a nutmeg and some ginger ;
then add four glasses of sherry and two quarts more of
beer, with three slices of lemon ; add more sugar, if
required, and serve it with three slices of toasted bread
floating in it.

Another genus of beverages, if so it may be termed,
of considerable antiquity, comprise those compositions
having milk for their basis, or, as Dr. Johnson describes
them, '^ milk curdled with wine and other acids," known
under the name of Possets — such as milk-posset, pepper-
posset, cider-posset, or egg-posset. Most of these, now-

42 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

a-days, are restricted to the bed-chamber, where they are
taken in cases of catarrh, to act as agreeable sudorifics.
They appear to us to be too much associated with tallow
applied to the nose to induce us to give recipes for their
composition, although in olden times they seem to have
been drank on festive occasions, as Shakspeare says

"We will have a posset at tlie end of a sea-coal lire ; "
and Sir John Suckling, who lived in the early part of
the 17th century, has in one of his poems the line —
"In came the bridesmaids with the posset."

The Grace-cup and Loving-cup appear to be synony-
mous terms for a beverage the drinking of which has
been from time immemorial a great feature at the
corporation dinners in London and other large towns,
as also at the feasts of the various trade companies
and the Inns of Court, and which is a compound
of wine and spices, formerly called " Sack/^ It is
handed round the table before the removal of the
cloth, in large silver cups, from which no one is
allowed to drink before the guest on either side of
him has stood up ; the person who drinks then rises
and bows to his neighbours. This custom is said to
have originated in the precaution to keep the right or
dagger hand employed, as it was a frequent practice
with the Danes to stab their companions in the back at
the time they were drinking. The most notable in-
stance of this was the treachery employed by Elfi'ida,
who stabbed King Edward the Martyr at Corfe Castle
whilst thus engaged. At the Temple the custom of the

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 43

Loving-cup is strictly observed. The guests are only
supposed to take one draught from it as it passes ; but,
in No. 110 of the 'Quarterly Review/ a writer says,
" Yet it chanced, not long since at the Temple, that,
though the number present fell short of seventy,
thirty-six quarts of the liquor were consumed."

Julep, derived from the Persian word Julap (a sweet-
ened draught), is a beverage spoken of by John Quincey,
the physician, who died in 1723, and also mentioned
by Milton in the lines —

" Behold this cordial Julep here,

That foams and dances in his crj^stal bounds,
With spirits of balm and fragrant syrups mix'd."

This drink is now made by pounding ice and white
sugar together, and adding to it a wine-glass of brandy,
half a wine-glass of rum, and a piece of the outer rind
of a lemon ; these ingredients are shaken violently,
and two or three sprigs of fresh mint are stuck in
the glass ; it is then usually imbibed through a straw,
or stick of maccaroni.

One of the oldest of winter beverages, and an especial
favourite, both in ancient and modern times, in our Uni-
versities, is " Bishop," also known on the Continent
under the somewhat similar name of Bischof. This,
according to Swift, is composed of

"Fine oranges,

Well roasted, with sugar and wine in a cup,
They'll make a sweet Bishop when gentlefolks sup."

This recipe is given verbatim in ' Oxford Night-caps.'

44 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

MODERN RECIPES.

PUNCH.

The origin of this word is attributed by Dr. Doran,
in his ' History of Court Fools/ to a club of Athenian
wits ; but how he could possibly connect the word
Punch with these worthies, or derive it from either
their sayings or doings, we are totally at a loss to
understand. Its more probable derivation is from the
Persian Punj, or from the Sanscrit Pancha, which de-
notes the usual number of ingredients of whichit is com-
posed, viz. five. In an old book of travels dated 1639,
a certain drink is mentioned called Palepuntz, used by
the English at Surat, composed of brandy, rose-water,
citron-juice, and sugai', the acid principle being absent.
We may here mention parenthetically that ' Punch, or
The London Charivari,^ was started by five men, of whom
three were " Lemons," viz. Mark Lemon, its editor,
Leman Rede, and Laman Blanchard. Thus ' Punch '
was made with " Lemon-ade."

Punch.

Extract the oil from the rind of a large lemon by
rubbing it with lumps of sugar ; add the juice of two
lemons and of two Seville oranges, together with the
finely pared rind ; put this into a jug with one pint of
old rum, one ])int of brandy, and half a pound of

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 45

powdered lump sugar ; stir well together, then add one
pint of infusion of green tea and one quart of boiling
water. Mix well, and let it be served quite hot. This
is an excellent recipe for ordinary Punch; and the
addition of green tea cannot be too strongly recom-
mended. In order to give Punch a delicious softness,
one pint of calves^-foot jelly should be added to the
above recipe. The addition of two glasses of sherry
will also be found an improvement.

Noyau Punch

is made by adding two glasses of noyau to the above
recipe.

A tablespoonful of Guava jelly administers a fine
flavour to a bowl of Punch. Preserved tamarinds,
put into Punch, impart a flavour closely resembling-
arrack ; and a piece or two of preserved ginger, with a
little of the syrup, added to Punch, acts as a stimulant,
and prevents any ill effects which might otherwise
arise from the acids it contains.

Gm Punch.

As a mild summer drink, and one readily made,
we recommend Gin Punch, according to the following
recipe : —

Stir the rind of a lemon, and the juice of half a one,
in half a pint of ginj add a glass of Maraschino,
half a pint of water, and two tablespooufuls of
pounded white sugar, and, immediately before serving,
pour in two bottles of iced soda-water.

46 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

Whisky Punch.

To one pint of whisky and two glasses of brandy
add the juice and peel of one lemon and a wine-glassful
of boiling ale ; well stir into it half a pound of pow-
dered sugai-, and add a quart of boiling water. This
is said to be the most fascinating tipple ever invented;
and, to quote the words of Basil Hall, " It brightens a
nian^s hopes, crumbles down his difficulties, softens the
hostility of his enemies, and, in fact, induces him for
the time being to think generously of all mankind, at
the tiptop of which it naturally and good-naturedly
places his own dear self."

If well made, in our opinion, there is no beverage, in
point of generosity and delicacy of flavour, that can
compare with Milk Punch, for the compounding of
which, after numerous trials, we offer the following
recipe as the simplest and best.

Milk Punch.

To the rinds of twelve lemons and two Seville
oranges add 2g pounds of loaf sugar, a bottle of pale
brandy, and a bottle and a half of old rum, with a
sufficient quantity of grated nutmeg. Let this mixture
stand for a week ; then add tlic juice of the fruit, with
five pints of water ; lastly, add one quart of boiling milk,
and, after letting it stand for an hour, filter the whole
through jelly-bags till it is clear.

Bottle for use. The longer it is kept, the better
it will be.

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 47

In Cambridge (a town of no mean authority in such
matters) Milk Punch is made after the following fashion.

Milk Punch, No. 2.

Boil together a quart of milk^ four ounces of loaf
sugar, a small stick of cinnamon, and the peel of one
lemon ; then beat together the yolks of three eggs and
the white of one ; add the boiling compound very gra-
dually, and keep continually stirring the mixture while
you pour into it a wine-glassful of rum and one of
noyau. Serve hot.

The follov/ing compound is said to have been held
in high esteem by the Prince Regent, from whom it
derives its name.

Regetifs Punch.

To a pint of strongly made green tea add the rinds
and juice of two lemons, one Seville orange, and one
sweet orange, with half a pound of loaf sugar and a
small stick of cinnamon. After standing for half an hour,
strain the mixture, add a bottle of champagne, half
a bottle of sherry, three wine-glasses of brandy; rum,
Cura^oa, and noyau, of each a wine-glass, and a pint
of pine-apple syrup.

Ice the compound well, and, immediately before
drinking_, add a bottle of soda-water.

Cold Milk Punch (German Recipe).
Take the finely shredded rind of one, and the juice of

48 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS,

three^ lemons^ one bottle of rum^ one pint of arrack, half
a pound of loaf sugar, and a quart of cold water. When
the sugar is melted, pour one quart of boiling milk on
the above, cover it closely for four hours, and run it
through a bag, as it should be quite bright.

Many other recipes for Punch might be added, as,
for instance, Egg Punch, Almond Punch, Punch a la
Romaine, Spiced Punch, Red Punch, Leander Punch,
&c. ; but the few we have prescribed will be found
reliable, so we refrain from swelling the list.

The simple admixture of spirits and water is known
either by the name of Toddy, which is a corruption of
an Indian word, Taddi (the sap of the palm tree), or by
the more truly English appellation of Grog, which thus
derives its cognomen. Before the time of Admiral
Vernon, rum was given to the seamen in its raw
state ; but he ordered it to be diluted, previously
to delivery, with a certain quantity of water. This
watering ef their favourite liquor so incensed the tars
that they nicknamed the Admiral " Old Grog,^^ in
allusion to a grogram coat which he was in the habit of
wearing.

Addison gives a humcrous account of a Tory squire
whom he met by chance in a country ride, and who
maintained, over a bowl of ])unch, to which he was evi-
dently addicted, that England would do very well if it
would content itself with its own productions and not
depend upon foreigners. Addison reminded him, to
his great discomfiture, that, of the favourite drink he

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 49

was eDJoying, the water was the only constituent of
English production, and that the brandy, lemon, spice,
and su"ar were all foreigners.

WINE CUPS.

Of all compound drinks, those having wine for their
basis require the greatest care in their preparation and
the greatest nicety in their composition. This will
be evident to any one who remembers the fact that
not one wine- drinker out of twenty, except by sub-
terfuge or previous practice, can distinguish, with his
eyes closed, a glass of sherry from one of port, although,
when wide awake, no one ever confounds the two ; and
there are fevv^ who cannot distinguish a glass of fine old
white port when they have the chance of tasting it.

It is not our object, however, to discourse on the
merits of particular wines, but to give recipes for
the blending of such as are most palatable and whole-
some. First on the list we place Claret Cup, as the
most agreeable, wholesome, easily compounded, and
easily obtained, and because, under the new tariff, most
people have learned to distinguish the difference be-
tween the two varieties of French wines, more or less,
though at present, we fear, to use an expression of
Charles Dickens, " generally less."

D

50 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

Claret Cup, No. 1.

To a bottle of Bordeaux claret add two wine-glasses
of sherry and a wine-glass of Maraschino, with a small
quantity of powdered lump sugar. Let the above be
well iced and put into a cup, and, immediately before
drinking, add a bottle of soda-water which has also
been previously iced, and stick in two sprigs of borage.

Claret Cup, No. 2.

To each bottle of ordinary claret add a bottle of soda-
water, a glass of sherry or Curagoa, the peel of a lemon
cut very thin, with powdered sugar according to taste.
Let the whole stand an hour or two before serving, and
then add some clear ice.

Claret Cap, No. 3.

To the above add a few slices of cucumber, or some
sprigs of borage instead of cucumber.

Claret Cup, No. 4.

As No. 2, except the lemon-peel, for wdiich substitute,
when in season, a pint of ripe raspberries, or four or
five peaches or nectarines cut in slices. This is a most
delicious beverage.

Mulled Claret.

The best way of mulling claret is simply to heat it
with a sufficient quantity of sugar and a stick of cin-
namon. To this a small quantity of brandy may be
added, if preferred.

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 51

Burgundy Cup.

To a bottle of Burgundy wine add a wine-glass
of noyaUj three wine-glasses of pine-apple syrup,
one wine-glass of brandy, and a quarter of a pound
of powdered sugar ; ice well ; add a bottle of seltzer-
or soda-water before drinking, and serve with a sprig
of borage.

Hock Cup, jSo. 1.

To a bottle of hock add three wine-glasses of sherry,
one lemon sliced, and some balm or borage. Let it
stand two hours ; sweeten to taste, and add a bottle of
seltzer-water.

Hock Cvp, No. 2.

" May-Trauk " is a most popular beverage on the
Rhine. Take with each bottle of light hock about a
dozen sprigs of woodruflf, a Cjuarter of an orange cut
in small slices, and about two ounces of powdered
sugar. The herbs are to be removed, after having
been in the wine half an hour. A bottle of sparkling
wine added to four or five bottles of still hock is a great
improvement. A little ice is recommended.

Hock Cup, No. 3.

Instead of woodruff and orange take to each bottle
of hock about half a pint of highly flavoured straw-
berries. Sugar as above. The fruit is to be taken
with the wine after having been in it about an hour.

1)3

53 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

Hock Cup, No. 4.

Take some tliiu slices of pine-apple instead of the
strawberries.

Hock Cup, No. 5.

Take to each bottle of hock two highly flavoured
peaches peeled and cut in slices. Sugar as above.

Champagne Cup.

To a bottle of champagne add a wine-glass of
Madeira or sherry, a liqueur-glass of Maraschino, two
slices of Seville orange-peel, and one slice of lemon-
peel. Before drinking, pour in a bottle of seltzer-
water, and serve with a sprig of verbena or a very
small piece of thinly cut peeling of cucumber.

Moselle Cup, No. 1.

To a bottle of Moselle add a sweet orange sliced, a
leaf or two of inint, sage, borage, and the black
currant. Let this stand for three hours ; strain off,
and sweeten to taste with clarified sugar.

Moselle Cup, No. 2.

To each bottle of still or sparkling Moselle add one
bottle of soda-water, a glass of sherry or brandy, four
or five thin slices of pine-apple, the peel of half a lemon
cut very thin, and powdered sugar according to taste :
let the whole stand about an hour, and before serving
add some lumps of clear ice.

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 53 p,TI\

Moselle Cup, No. 3.

As No. 2, except the pine-apple, for whicli substitute ^ ^^
a pint of fresh strawberries, or three or four peaches or A/

nectarines.

Moselle Cup, No. 4.

As No. 2, but add, instead of fruit, some sprigs of
woodruff. Woodruff is a herb much used on the Rhine
for making May-Trank, its peculiar flavour being most
powerful in i\lay : it grows in forests in many parts of
England.

Moselle Cup, No. 5.
When neither fruit nor woodruff can be obtained,
add, instead of sherry or brandy, a glass or two of
milk-punch, or essence of punch, and a little more of
the lemon-peel.

Cutler's Moselle Cup.
Half a pound of loaf sugar steeped in water to satu-
ration, one orange thinly sliced, a handfd of fresh
young woodruff, and two bottles of Moselle.
N.B. Hock may be substituted for Moselle.
A bottle of Bordeaux added to the foregoing im-
proves it.

Mulled Port.
To a bottle of matured port add a wine-glass of
sherry, some cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a small
piece of bruised lemon-peel. Simmer the spice in

54 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

a little water^ then add the wine ; heat^ but do not
let it boil, and sweeten.

Mulled Sher7y.
The same as for mulled port, with the addition of a
wine-glass of brandy.

Sherr?j Cohler.

Fill a tumbler three parts full of pounded ice, to which
add two wine-glasses of sherrj', a tablespoonful of
brandy, two teaspoonfuls of powdered sugar, and two
or three small pieces of lemon. Pour the mixture
rapidly from, one tumbler to another several times,
throw in half a dozen strawberries, and drink the mix-
ture through a straw, or stick of maccaroni.

Cider Cup.

To a quart of elder add half a lemon squeezed, three
tablespoonfuls of powdered lump sugar, two wine-
glasses of pale brandy, a wine-glass of Curacoa, two
slices of lemon, with grated nutmeg on the top. Ice
well, and serve with borage.

Morgan's Herefordshire Cup.

To two bottles of cider add a bottle of port and a
bottle of soda-water, orange-peel, and plenty of sugar.
Ice well and serve with borage.

Donaldson's Cider Cup.
To a bottle of cider add one wine-glass of sherry, one

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 55

liqueur-glass of orange-brandy, half a liqueur-glass of
Cura(^oa, and before drinking add a bottle of seltzer-
water, a sprig of mint, and two or three lumps of ice.

The "Field" Cider Cup.
Mix together two quarts of old bottled cider sweeten
to taste, taking care that the sugar is perfectly melted,
add half a nutmeg grated, a little powdered ginger, a
glass of brandy, a glass of noyau, cut a lemon into it
in moderately thin slices, and let it remain there.
Make it two hours before wanted, and staud in some
ice. There is no better recipe than the above.

White's Club House Cup.
Three bottles of claret, one bottle of water, one wine-
glass of Madeira, a liqueur-glass of Maraschino, four
sweet oranges, three thin slices of cucumber or a piece
of borage, half a pint of sirup, the flower and young
part of borage, orange sliced with the peel ; let it stand
for three hours, then stir the sirup in one pound of
sugar to half a pint of water, boiled till it thickens.

Loving Cup.

One pint of mountain wine, one of Madeira, and one
of Lisbon, one bottle of champagne, one liqueur-glass
of pale brandy, three thin slices of lemon, sugar^ nut-
meg. Ice to taste.

Djonka [a Russian Beverage),
One pound and a half of lump sugar in very large

56 CUFS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

lumps, one bottle of Cognac, one bottle of sherry or
Madeira, three bottles of Moselle or hock, one bottle
of champagne, half a pound of blanched almonds, the
thinly shred rind of four lemons, four peaches sliced,
or one pine-apple or preserved fruit. These are the
ingredients. Now to prepare the nectar. On a large
well-tinned copper stewpan place a gridiron, and on
the gridiron the big lumps of sugar. Pour by degrees
the Cognac over the sugar, lighting it as you pour it on.
The sugar dissolves through the bars of the gridiron,
and the spirit is burnt out : this constitutes caramel.
Next add the sherry and fruity materials_, which allow
to digest for fifteen minutes, after which pour in the
Moselle, and transfer the compound into a bowl. On
serving add a bottle of champagne. Serve round in
flat champagne-glasses with a spoon to each for ex-
tracting the fruit. {Cutler.)

ODE TO BEEE.

Hail, beer !
In all thy forms of Porter, Stingo, Stout,
Swipes, Double X, Ale, IIea^■7, Out and Out,

Most dear.
Hail ! thou that mak'st man's heart as big as Jove's,

Of Ceres' gifts the best,

That fui'nishest
A cure for all our gi-icfs. a barm for all our — loaves.

CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 57

Oh ! Sir John Barleycorn, thou glorious Knight of ]Malt-a,
May thy fame never alter :

Great Britain's Bacchus ! pardon all our failings,
And with thy Ale ease all our ailings.
I 've emptied many a barrel in my time —
And, may be, shall empty many more
Before
O'er the Styx I sail.
E'en when an infant I was fond of Ale,
A sort of Ale-y-baby,
And still I love, in spite of gibes and jokes
Of wine-ing folks.

For Stout I 've stoutly fought for many a year,
For Ale I '11 fight till I *m laid on my bier.

October! oh, intoxicating name ! no drink
That e"er was made on earth can match with thee.
Of best French brandy in the Palais Royal
I 've emptied many a phial,
And think
That double X beats O.D.V.
On thy banks, Ehine,
I 've drank such wine

As Bacchus' self might well imsober ;
But, oh ! Johannisberg thy beams are shorn
By our John Barleycorn,

And Hock is not Ilock-tober.
As for the rest, Cape, Claret, Calcavella,
They are but " leather and prunella,"
Stale, flat, and musty.
By the side of Ale
Imperial Tokay
Itself gives way.
Sherry turns pale,
And Port grows crusty.
Rum, Whisky, Hollands seem so much sour crout,
iVnd Ilodges's Mountain-Dew turns out

A mere Hodge-Podge.
Of Bishops e'en, god wot !
I don't much like the flavour,

58 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

Politicfilly speaking (but, then, politics are not

My trade) ;
Exception sliould be made

In Doctor Malthtfs favour.
" In vino Veritas " they say ; but that 's a fable,
A most egregious blunder.
I 've been at many a wine-bibbing ere now,
And vow,
For one that told the truth across the table,

I 've seen a dozen lying under.
Besides, as old Sam Johnson said once, I 've no patience
With men who never tell the sober truth
But when they 're drunk,andare n't to bebelieved, forsooth.
Except in their //e-bations.
Oh I do not think, you who these praises hear,
Dont think my muse be-mused with beer,
Nor that in speaking thus my pleasure
I go beyond beer measure.
But stay.

It 's time to end this lay ;
Tho' I could go on rhyming for a year
In praise of Beer,
And think it sport ;
But many folks I know like something short.

BEER CUPS.

These cups should always be made with good sound
ale, but not too strong ; and sliould invariably be drank
from the tanhard, and not poured into glasses, as they
are generally more agreeable to the taste than to the
sight, and it is imperative that they should be kept hot.

Hot Ale Cup.
To a quart of ale, heated, add two wine-glasses of

CUPS AXD THEIR CI'STOMS.

59

o-in, one wine-glass of sherry, two tablespoonfuls of
American bitters, plenty of cloves and cinnamon, and
four tablespoonfuls of moist sugar.

Copus Cuj).
Heat two quarts of ale; add four wine-glasses of
brandy, three wine-glasses of noyau, a pound of lump
sugar, and the juice of one lemon. Toast a slice of
bread, stick a slice of lemon on it with a dozen cloves,
over which grate some nutmeg, and serve hot.

Donaldson's Beer Cup.
To a pint of ale add the peel of half a lemon, half a
liqueur-glass of noyau, a bottle of seltzer-water, a little
nutmeg and sugar, and ice to taste.

Freemasons' Cup.
A pint of Scotch ale, a pint of mild beer, half a pint
of brandy, a pint of sherry, half a pound of loaf sugar,
and plenty of grated nutmeg. This cup may be drank
either hot or cold.

Egg Flip.
Add the whites and yolks of three eggs, beaten toge-
ther with three ounces of lump sugar, to half a pint of
strono- ale ; heat the mixture nearly to the boiling-point ;
then put in two wine-glasses of gin or rum (the former
being preferable) , with some grated nutmeg and ginger ;
add another pint of hot ale, and pour the mixture
frequently from one jug to another before serving.

60 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

LIQUEURS.

Undek this head we supply only a few recipes wliich,
by experience^ we know to be good, omitting a long list
of the rarer and finer kinds which are imported from
abroad, with the advice that it is better to purchase
liqueurs of first-rate quality from a first-class house,
rather than produce an inferior article of one's own
making.

Curaqoa.
To every wine-quart of the best pale brandy add the
very finely pared rinds of two Seville oranges and of
one lemon, and let the mixture stand for three weeks.
Then carefully strain oif the liquid, and add as much
finely powdered sugar-candy as the liquid will dissolve
(about a pound to each bottle). The mixture should be
frequently shaken, for a month. If the rind of a shad-
dock can be procured, a third part of it, mixed with the
orange, will impart a peculiar aromatic and very deli-
cious flavour to the cordial. Gin, rum, or whisky may
be substituted for brandy in this recipe, but not with
an equally good effect.

Cherry Brandy.

To each wine-bottle of brandy add a pound of Mo-
rello cherries (not too ripe), and half a pint of the ex-
pressed juice of the small black cherry called "Brandy-

CUPS AND THEIK CUSTOMS. 61

blacks." Let this stand for a week, and then add half
a pound of powdered lump sugar and a quarter of a
pound of powdered sugar-candy, with half an ounce of
blanched bitter almonds. The longer it is kept, the
better it will become. Where the juice of the black
cherry cannot be obtained, sirup of mulberries will be
found an excellent substitute.

-J Or*

Brandtj Bitters. ONTARIO

To each gallon of brandy add seven ounces of shced
gentian-root, live ounces of dried orange-peel, two
ounces of seeds of cardamoms, one ounce of bruised
cinnamon, half an ounce of cloves, and a small quantity
of cochineal to colour it. Many other ingredients
may be added which complicate the flavour; but none
will make the above compound more wholesome or
palatable.

Ginger Brandy.

To each bottle of brandy add two ounces of the best
ginger bruised; let it stand for a week ; then strain
the°liquid through muslin, and add a pound of finely
powdered sugar-candy. This should be kept at least
one year.

Hunting -flask.

As to the best compound for a hunting-flask, it will

seldom be found that any two men perfectly agree ; yet,

as a rule, the man who carries the largest, and is most

liberal with it to his friends, will be generally esteemed

63 CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.

the best concocter. Some there are who prefer to
all others a flask of gin into which a dozen cloves have
been inserted, while others, younger in age and more
fantastic in taste, believe in equal parts of gin and
noyeau, or of sherry and Maraschino. For our own
part, we must admit a strong predilection for a pull at
a flask containing a well-made cold punch, or a dry
Curajoa. Then, again, if we take the opinion of our
huntsman, who (of course) is a spicy fellow, and ought
to be up in such matters, he recommends a piece of
dry ginger always kept in the waistcoat pocket ; and
does not care a fg for anything else. So much for
difi'erence of taste : but as we have promised a recipe,
the one we venture to insert is specially dedicated to
the lovers of usquebaugh, or " the crathur : " it was a
favourite of no less a man than Robert Burns, and one
we believe not generally known ; we therefore hope it
will find favour with our readers, as a wind-up to our
brewings.

To a quart of whisky add the rinds of two lemons,
an ounce of bruised ginger, and a pound of ripe
white currants stripped from their stalks. Put these
ingredients into a covered vessel, and let them stand
for a few days ; then strain carefully, and add one
pound of powdered loaf sugar. This may be bottled
two days after the sugar has been added.

Printed by Tavlok and FHANCIS, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.

JOHN YAN A'OORST, PATERNOSTER ROW.

HOUSE DOGS AND SPORTING DOGS : Their Varieties,
Points, Management, Training, Breeding, and Diseases. By John
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"A little canine encyclopsedia." — Examiner.

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THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD. With 32 Illustrations by
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Described by Johnson.
A large 8vo volume, with coloured figures of the 1780 Plants

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Club Mosses, £3 3s.
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JOHN VAN VOORST, 1 PATERNOSTER ROW.

iSatural f i^tor^ of t\)t I5ritoti 30le0.

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QUADRUPEDS. By Professor Bell. A new Edition. (In
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